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Cameron County judge-elect to focus on balanced budgets
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0 Comments ::  :: South Padre Island, Port Isabel, Laguna Vista, Bayview, Economy |
The day after a stunning victory that ousted longtime Cameron County Judge Gilberto Hinojosa, Carlos Cascos was hard at work as judge-elect.
After months on the campaign trail, he’s drafting a game plan to launch his administration in January, he said.
“My thought process has started,” Cascos said Wednesday, the day after he won 55 percent of the vote to defeat Hinojosa, his longtime rival who’s run the county since 1995. “We’ve started to work.”
From indigent health care and colonia improvements to rerouting railroad traffic and “consistently balancing the budge,” Cascos is drafting a roster of priorities that will become part of the focus of his administration.
Throughout his campaign, Cascos criticized Hinojosa’s handling of the budget.
Now, the certified public accountant is ready to review the county’s financial condition, he said.
“There were some significant budget overruns,” said Cascos, 54, who served on the commission from 1991 to 2002.
In 2005, the county dipped deeply into reserves to offset a $1.8 million shortfall, Cascos said. Of the total, the county’s jails were the targets of about $880,000 of the overspending, he said.
Under his administration, the county will begin work on its next budget in May or June, Cascos said.
“We need to have four to five months of planning on this budget,” he said. “I’m going to get together with (department heads) and not promise anything to anybody. Everybody has a wish list, and we have to make sure we don’t overspend.”
On his list of priorities, he’s put railroad projects near the top, he said.
He wants to continue efforts on the west rail project in Brownsville and the north rail project in Harlingen and San Benito to relo-cate railroads outside of the urban areas.
Colonia improvements are also on the list.
“We want to plan to bring the rural areas into the 21st century,” Cascos said.
Street lighting is part of the plan, he said.
“We need to introduce a short- and long-range plan for lighting in rural areas,” Cascos said. “It’s been important for a long, long time. It’s a safety concern. That’s just important for the overall quality of life.”
But first, he’ll put together the staff that will help fuel his administration, Cascos said.
“It’s going to take me every bit to start developing a team,” Cascos said. “I want to make sure I hire competent people as assis-tants, to get the right people in the right jobs. I’ve got to be very thorough. Whoever is hired is a reflection on the county judge.”
Now, Hinojosa’s staff is made up of about five employees, he said.
“Maybe we can consolidate two positions into one,” he said.
At the head of the county commission, Cascos will work to bring unity to the board, he said.
“I want to find a consensus among the commissioners,” Cascos said. “We want to work for the best for the citizens of Cameron County, not fighting about things.”
Cascos describes his management style as “fair, but firm.”
“Everybody is treated fairly and with respect. At the same time, there will be no tolerance for misuse of county resources,” he said. “Everyone is going to be held accountable for their actions or inactions. This is a new era, and it’s not going to be business as usual.” |
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